Nancy Connolly readies flower beds at the Brewster Mansion in Buxton for the Dorcas Society Fest. The grounds and barn will be open free to the public beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.

Nancy Connolly

The historic Brewster Mansion at Tory Hill in Buxton is again hosting the annual Dorcas Society Fest that opens with a car show at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Gardens, grounds and barn at the Brewster Mansion in Buxton will open for free tours and photographs during the Dorcas Society Fest on Saturday, Aug. 5. Nancy Connolly cares for the flower gardens.

Nancy Connolly positions an urn near the front entrance to Brewster Mansion in Buxton.

Nancy Connolly of Gorham is in her 26th year taking care of flowers at the historic Brewster Mansion in Buxton. She works here in a hidden garden tucked away  from view by hedges beside the barn.

BUXTON — Flower gardens and greenery on the grounds of the historic Brewster Mansion in Buxton have bloomed for 26 years under the tender care of Nancy Connolly.

Those attending the Dorcas Society Fest on Saturday, Aug. 5, will have a free opportunity to view Connolly’s work and wander through the bedecked grounds.

Richard and Beverly Atkinson, who bought the property in 1990, say Connolly has been instrumental in planning and developing the mansion’s landscaped five acres.

The mansion was built in 1805 by Dr. Royal Brewster and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Atkinsons have preserved the mansion meticulously and enhanced the grounds’ appearance through the years. Even the cupola on the barn roof recently received a coat of paint to look fresh for the fest.

A few of the many landscape features include a swimming pool with a decorated deck, a cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in New York, a gazebo, statues, a New York  fountain that even has pond lilies in it, and multiple flower beds.
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“There’s something in bloom every day,”  said Richard Atkinson, who is widely known by his nickname “Sandy.”

Connolly of Gorham is an educational technician at Great Falls Elementary School. “This is my other life,” she said recently as she showed her summer work.

The garden areas have evolved over the years.  She described the scene as being in  harmony. “Sandy brings home a beautiful item and we build a garden around it,” Connolly said.

Even the barn is a museum. “I take my boots off to come into this barn,” Connolly said.

The Atkinsons praised Connolly for her skills and diligence.

“We have such faith in her,” Beverly Atkinson said. “She’s totally dedicated.”

Connolly waits until after the Dorcas Society Fest to schedule a vacation.

“I don’t know where we’d be without her,” Richard Atkinson said.

In the Brewster era, the grounds were part of a 200-acre farm. Richard Atkinson said part of the landscaped area was transformed from a pumpkin patch, and he pointed to a spot that was once a haven for woodchucks.

“This was a bare, ugly field,” Beverly Atkinson said.

Now, it is alive with a variety of flower beds and shrubs, along with several species of ornamental and fruit trees. Besides Connolly’s work with flowers, William Smith of Gorham and Norman Landry of Westbrook prune shrubbery and trees while Richard Atkinson mows the grass himself and his wife also helps in the gardens. “We’ve got a good team,” Richard Atkinson said.

Beverly Atkinson said that Connolly will arrive at 5:30 a.m. on the day of the Dorcas Society Fest to water the plants before the public arrives at 9 a.m..

Visitors can expect to see day lilies and hydrangeas in bloom, Connolly said.

The gardens have hosta plants throughout for harmony, she said: “It adds chorus to the song.”

She said many of the peonies growing in the Brewster gardens are descendents of those at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth.

As a tip for home gardeners, Connolly suggests they find something that works well on their property and use it throughout to create their own harmony.

Connolly said she has many memories in her long association as the gardener at the mansion.

“I join the local community with gratitude for Sandy and Bev Atkinson, who have invested greatly in this property, to preserve its history and develop its beauty and unique charm,” Connolly said.

Robert Lowell can be reached at 854-2577 or [email protected]